CMS locks down DiskVault drives with FIPS-level encryption

CMS Products is well-known in government circles. The company’s secure hard drives have been earned high marks in GCN reviews over the years, and the company has picked up several Best of FOSE awards as well.

Now, CMS is going a step further, adding FIPS-level encryption, certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to its DiskVault product line.

The DiskVault-FIPS external USB and module bay Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) storage solutions have been certified to Federal Information Processing Standards 140-2 Level 2. DiskVault-FIPS solutions are designed to be ready for secure managed environments, or operated as stand-alone encrypted storage/backup devices. Storage capacities range from 500G up to 4T, depending on the model, and meet the Trusted Computing Group’s standards.

“As businesses look for additional storage, it’s important for data to be highly secured without sacrificing performance,” said Ken Burke, president of CMS Products. “Data breach is becoming more common and costs businesses millions annually. By encrypting the drive itself, customers can protect their data from intruders without affecting performance.”

The standard for SEDs was created by the Trusted Computing Group, which develops standards for secure computing. The TCG Opal standard, which the DiskVault meets, is designed to ensure interoperability across vendors, technologies and platforms. While traditional SEDs based on the Opal standard have shipped for several years, this is the first time they have been available as a government-grade FIPS certified external solution.

“The combined Seagate and CMS offering will provide security-conscious customers with a highly secure, manageable external data protection solution,” said Bob Griswold, senior vice president of product line management at Seagate. “External hardware-based encryption and security provides a level of trust and performance not achievable by software encrypted devices. CMS’s new CE-Secure DiskVault – FIPS Edition will help companies ensure that they meet regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley and more."